#THEINNOVATIONFESTIVAL

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BEATS

BEER

BIOLOGICS

CONFERENCE

Embed yourself in the region’s innovation ecosystem as we showcase new technologies, advancements, and discoveries at Innovation Festival’s conference. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to break into the industry, become inspired, secure career opportunities, and network with top innovators and scientists.

 

Register today to attend groundbreaking sessions and hear about the innovation that is changing the future of bioscience, engineering, and digital technology.

TALENT RECRUITMENT

Innovation Festival brings students, postdocs, and early career professionals from across the country and introduces them to companies and academic institutions looking for technically trained individuals for jobs and training programs.

 Join us for this novel opportunity to meet emerging talent!

STUDENT REGISTRATION & TRAVEL AWARDS

Each year, we provide tremendous financial support for students and postdocs to join us at Innovation Festival. Simply complete a Travel award application and let us help you unlock access to groundbreaking science, career opportunities, and a valuable network of peers and professionals alike.

The Keynote Speakers

Captain Barrington Irving

Founder & CEO | Flying Classroom

Beth Montelone

Senior Associate Vice President for Research | Kansas State University

Nancy Mwirotsi

Founder & Executive Director | Pi515

Rebecca Robinson

President & CEO | K-State Innovation Partners

Jennifer Radosevich

Worldwide Director, Research and Innovation | Hill's Pet Nutrition

Innovators, Researchers, & Entrepreneurs

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Lisa Stehno-Bittel

CEO | Likarda

ECONOMIC DEV

Trent Armburst

EnterpriseKC

ECONOMIC DEV

Megan Brandt

Title | Organization

DIGITAL TECH

Jonathan Ruiz

CEO | Electronic Beacon Systems

BUSINESS

Thomas Luebbering

Partner | Hovey Williams, LLP

BUSINESS

Michael Carmona

Senior Director | KCSourceLink

ENGINEERING

Elizabeth McQuade

Biocontainment Specialist | CURIS System

BUSINESS

Liz McGuire

Consulting Director of Supply Chain | Clarkston Consulting

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Enzo Unzain Moreno

Graduate Student | Kansas State University

DIGITAL TECH

Chelsea Johnson, MD

Founder & Physician Executive | Concierge Care Pediatrics, LLC

ENGINEERING

Dhoolappa Melinamani

INSA Visiting Fellow | Karnataka Veterinary, Animal, and Fisheries Sciences University

HEALTH

Shai-anne Nalder

Title | Organization

ANIMAL HEALTH

Delaney Bouska

Development Scientist | Argenta Research

ENGINEERING

Molly Oller

Director of Process Architecture | GBA

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Ted Price

Ashbel Smith Professor & Director | Center for Advanced Pain Studies, University of Texas at Dallas

ECONOMIC DEV

Hank Norem

CEO | Ramco Innovations

DIGITAL TECH

Rebecca MacKinnon

CEO & Founder | 5th Dimension Strategies Digital Health

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Diana Acevedo

St. Jude

TOOLS & TECH

Gayani Wijegunawardena

PhD Candidate | Wichita State University

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Sahil Sethi

Graduate Research Student | University of Nebraska Medical Center

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Mark Hoffman

Professor | Frontiers Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Informatics Core

TOOLS & TECH

Jordyn Westergaard

Research Scientist | Viracor Eurofins

DIGITAL TECH

Doug Hohulin

Chapter President - KC | VRARA

HEALTH

Brandy Archie

Founder & CEO | AskSAMIE

HEALTH

Ikenna Onyekwelu

Doctor of Philosophy in Biological and Agricultural Engineering | Kansas State University

HEALTH

Tim Deinart

John Deere

ECONOMIC DEV

Maria Thacker-Goethe

CEO | Center for Global Health Innovation

DIGITAL TECH

Craig Mason

Founder & CEO | Raise Health Innovations

ANIMAL HEALTH

Rob Hunter

Chief Science & Regulatory Officer | Veterinary Health Research Centers

TOOLS & TECH

Dustin Masser

Senior Field Applications Scientist | Roche Sequencing and Life Science

ENGINEERING

Roy Johnson

Client Account Manager | Black & Veatch

DIGITAL TECH

Chris Jones

Founder | Match Rite Care

ENGINEERING

Eric Quarnstrom

Department Manager, Process Engineering | Arcadias DPS Group

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Amanda Burkardt

CEO | PHIOGEN

TOOLS & TECH

Hande Kucuk McGinty

Assistant Professor | Kansas State University

DIGITAL TECH

Brandon Clough

Chief Revenue Officer | PSC Biotech

HEALTH

Nitish Mishra

Title | Organization

HEALTH

Theresa A. Quintana

Kansas State University | PhD Student in AgTech/Animal Health

ENGINEERING

Ben Linder

President | BAAM.Tech

ECONOMIC DEV

Steven Anthony

Executive Director of Business Development | Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri

AG TECH

Blake Bextine

DARPA

ENGINEERING

Alex Belkofer

Senior VDC Director | McCarthy Building Companies

DIGITAL TECH

Phillip Lyman

Director of Process Modeling | Arcadis DPS Group

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Sharien Fitriasari

Graduate Student | Stowers Institute For Medical Research

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Leslie Brian Essel

MPhil Pharmacology | University of Missouri - Kansas City

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Dennis Ossie Perez-Lopez

Doctoral Candidate | University of Missouri, Columbia

TOOLS & TECH

Scott Leigh

Chief Revenue Officer | Ronawk, Inc

DIGITAL TECH

Kara Lowe

President & CEO | KC Tech Council

HEALTH

Cuthbert Simpkins, MD

Founder, President & Chief Innovation Officer | Vivacelle Bio, Inc

HEALTH

Zach McAdams

Graduate Research Assistant University of Missouri – Columbia

ENGINEERING

Steve McDowell

President & CEO | BNIM

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Nuria Lara

Senior Research Associate | University of Missouri Kansas City

BUSINESS

Naveen Jain

Founder & CEO | Viome Life Sciences

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Michael Coe

Chief Scientific Officer | Phoreus Technology, Inc

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Anil Kumar

Biomanufacturing Lead | RNAissance Ag

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Sarah Neuman

Staff Scientist | University of Wisconsin-Madison

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Dayakar Badri

Principal Scientist | Hill's Pet Nutrition

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Maria Spletter

Assistant Professor| University of Missouri Kansas City

DIGITAL TECH

Michael Annis

Partner | Husch Blackwell

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Yves Chiswili Chabu

Assistant Professor | University of Missouri

DIGITAL TECH

Anita Newton

Chief Innovation Officer | CommunityAmerica Credit Union

HEALTH

Jonathan Knect

KC Global Design/ KCADC

AGENDA

Thursday

8:00 – 9:00 am

Registration

9:00 – 9:45 am

Opening Keynote

9:45 – 10:05 am

Likarda

10:05 – 10:25 am

Creating the Next Generation of Non-opioid Pain Therapeutics

10:05 – 10:25 am

Digital Transformation of the Construction Industry

10:05 – 10:25 am

Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

10:25 – 10:45 am

Three For One: How a single, innovative peptide sequence drives three distinct nanoparticle delivery systems

10:25 – 10:45 am

Planning for Success: A facility programming and conceptual design case study

10:25 – 10:45 am

Building a Startup Studio

10:45 – 11:05 am

Transformative Biotechnology

10:45 – 11:05 am

 Next Generation Robotics and Their Commercial Applications

10:45 – 11:05 am

Center for Global Health Institute

11:05 – 11:25 am

Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Program Standardized Complex Gut Microbiomes Affect Body Weight and Behavior in the BTBRT Itpr3tf/J Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

11:05 – 11:25 am

BNIM: Designs for a Better World

11:05 – 11:25 am

Economic Development

11:25 – 11:45 am

11:25 – 11:45 am

New Trends and Technologies in Food and Pharma

11:25 – 11:45 am

Why KC is a Top Design City

11:45 am – 1:30 pm

Networking Luncheon

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Modeling The Tumor Microenvironment In Pediatric Solid Tumors

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Total Chemical Synthesis of Trem-2 Ecto Domain

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Intellectual Property Concerns at the Intersection of Bioscience and Digital Technology

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Oxidative stress and DNA damage modulate craniofacial phenotype variability

2:00 – 2:15 pm

It Is Time To Take A Leap Forward In Digital PCR Technology With Roche’s Digital LightCycler System

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Innovations in care delivery for pediatrics

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

2:15 – 2:30 pm

Gene Co-expression and Machine Learning Approaches to Compare SARS-CoV-2 Infected Tissues In Humans

2:15 – 2:30 pm

Developing clinically relevant contrived donor controls for validating assays measuring antigen restricted T cell responses utilizing IFNγ ELISpot and flow cytometry assays

2:15 – 2:30 pm

An intelligent IoMT Device to diagnose Hypertension, Diabetes, and Cerebral Disorders from Retina using AI

2:15 – 2:30 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

2:30 – 2:45 pm

Sex-Dependent Differential Role of Estrogen Receptors, α and β, in Muscle-Bone Crosstalk

2:30 – 2:45 pm

Bridging Food Informatics With Bioinformatics Using KARMA

2:30 – 2:45 pm

How Can Generative AI Unlock Creativity, Innovation and Opportunity? What Do You Need to Know!

2:30 – 2:45 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

2:45 – 3:00 pm

A novel superfamily of bridge-like lipid transfer proteins

2:45 – 3:00 pm

Validation of UV/SGM for Destruction of PFAS in concentrated liquid waste

2:45 – 3:00 pm

Leveraging Software Solutions for Start-ups, Midsized, and Large Companies

2:45 – 3:00 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

3:00 – 3:15 pm

Characterization of the nefl^E396K mouse model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2E (CMT2E) therapeutic development

3:00 – 3:15 pm

Bio-Blocks: THE Bio-Factory for Generating Bio-Mimetic Microenvironments for Discovery

3:00 – 3:15 pm

KC Tech Specs

3:00 – 3:15 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Development & Disease

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Tools & Technology

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Disrupt or Be Disrupted: Innovation is the DNA of Digital Tech

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

3:30 – 3:45 pm

Assessment of candidate genes involved in the difference of flowering time between two genotypes of sesame

3:30 – 3:45 pm

Tools & Technology

3:30 – 3:45 pm

Digital Tech

3:30 – 3:45 pm

Start-up Pitch Contest

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Coffee & Conversation

4:00 – 5:30 pm

Poster Session

6:00 – 8:00 pm

Networking Reception & Awards Dinner

Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Radosevich

Friday

8:00 – 8:30 am

Registration

8:30 – 9:00 am

Keynote

NSF Engine Development Award: Advancing biosecurity, biodefense, and biomanufacturing in Kansas and Missouri

9:00 – 9:20 am

Empowering Human-Machine Synergy in Agriculture: The Role of IoT

9:20 – 9:40 am

How Digital Health Can Positively Impact Patient/Provider Experience In Disease Of Lesser Prevalence

9:20 – 9:40 am

Overcoming Hurdles in Mass Production of dsRNA for Next-gen Agricultural Pest Control

9:20 – 9:40 am

From Non-Expert to Industry Leader: The Power of Dreaming Big and Embracing Interdisciplinary Innovation

9:40 – 10:00 am

Importance of Patient Driven Digital Health Solutions

9:40 – 10:00 am

Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative

9:40 – 10:00 am

Who Owns Intellectual Property Created by A.I.?

10:00 – 10:20 am

Applying AI to Society’s Biggest Health Challenges

10:00 – 10:20 am

Ag Tech

10:00 – 10:20 am

Advancing Corporate Engagement and Supplier Diversity within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

10:20 – 10:40 am

Cell Therapy Manufacturing Simulation

10:20 – 10:40 am

Next generation sequencing tools for exploring the microbiome in companion animals

10:20 – 10:40 am

Start at the Beginning: Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chain Strategy

10:40 – 11:00 am

Break

11:00 – 12:45 pm

Industry of Impact

Biotechnology Luncheon

 

11:00 – 12:45 pm

Industry of Impact

Engineering Luncheon

 

11:00 – 12:45 pm

Industry of Impact

Data & Computer Science Luncheon

 

11:00 – 12:45 pm

Industry of Impact

Investor & Entrepreneur Luncheon

 

12:45 – 1:00 pm

Break

1:00 – 1:15 pm

Metabolomic Analysis and Biomarker Discovery for Methamphetamine Use Disorder

1:00 – 1:15 pm

Key Considerations for a cGMP Commercial manufacturing Facility

1:00 – 1:15 pm

Veterinary Health Research Centers, Real World Data

1:00 – 1:15 pm

Treats to Treat: Chewing the Way to Better Animal Health

1:15 – 1:30 pm

Developing a Microbial-based Immunotherapy Against Pancreatic Cancer

1:15 – 1:30 pm

ROI of Material Compatibility – Can bio-decontamination chemistries impede your production process?

1:15 – 1:30 pm

Elucidating the Metal-Dependent Antimalarial Mechanism of Doxycycline in the Plasmodium Apicoplast

1:15 – 1:30 pm

Towards managing and preserving irrigation resources under novel climate risks in the Eastern Kansas River Basin

1:30 – 1:45 pm

Discovery of Anti-PDL1 Small Peptides for Cancer Immunotherapy and Imaging

1:30 – 1:45 pm

Engineering

1:30 – 1:45 pm

Solving the Problem of “Irreversible” Septic Shock Using Phospholipid Nanoparticles

1:30 – 1:45 pm

Least Cost Ration For Dairy Using The Microsoft Excel Solver Add-in

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Utilizing aptamer technology for the development of anti-cancer reagents

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Biofabrication of affordable grafts for tissue repair and their potential clinical applications to combat microbial resistance

1:45 – 2:00 pm

AskSAMIE: Creating equity in aging in place through tech

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Characterization of ABC transporter genes in Toxocara canis using RNA-Seq

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Drugs & Pharmacology

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Engineering

2:00 – 2:15 pm

HRMS/MS-based Metabolomic Profiling of Maternal Blood Serum for Biomarker Identification Using Shimadzu 9030 Q-ToF

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Ag Tech

2:30 – 3:15 pm

Intellectual Property Protection Panel Discussion

2:30 – 2:45 pm

NIIMBL eXperience @BioKansas Panel

2:30 – 3:15 pm

Surpass Streamline: Technical Advantages for Complex Flow Diversion

2:30 – 3:15 pm

Women In Tech Panel Discussion

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Coffee & Conversation

3:30 – 5:00 pm

Poster Session

5:00 – 6:00 pm

Closing Reception

Saturday

8:00 am – 12:00 pm

Exploring the roots of our food and nutrition

4:00 – 10:00 pm

Main Stage Music Acts

3:00 – 7:00 pm

Brewery Showcase

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Silent Disco